Wishtree Day started at the Lanpher Library in May 2019. The book Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate was on the VT Middle Grade book award list, and after reading it, we recognized a need for a Wishtree in our community.
About the book: "Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .
Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighborhood.
You might say Red has seen it all.
Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experience as a wishtree is more important than ever."
On May 1, 2019, with the help of Hyde Park Elementary School Librarian, Robin Bryce, and the Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF), we organized a day where every student from HPES came to the Library, wrote down their wish, and with help of volunteers: Melanie and Everett Dickinson, Marie Olsen, Tammy Agnew, and Shelby Padulo, they tied their wishes into the branches of the Pin Oak tree in front of the Lanpher Library.
In 2019, there were a lot of wishes to win the lottery, become rich and famous, and also wishes for love, and caring, and for summer every day!
In May of 2020, because of Covid-19, our Wishtree Day, like so many other things, moved to an online format. We shared the anonymous online form with school classes, and the wider community. We wrote the wishes down on scraps of fabric and tied them to the tree on behalf of the wishers. The tone of the wishes changed. There were few lighthearted wishes, and more wishes for quarantine to be over, to play with my friends again, for the virus to end...
May 1, 2021 was a true day of community in Hyde Park. April 30th was Wishtree Day with Hyde Park Elem. School students walking to the Library to tie their wishes in the tree branches. May 1, was Green Up Day! Folks stopped by the Library to hang wishes in the tree, pick up their Green Up bags, and were welcomed by the unicorn, eagle, squid, and lion characters! The Lanpher Library dedicated our Spirit of Community Awards to Robin Aither and Kathy Geiersbach, and cut the ribbon on the Little Free Library created in memory of Chris Maxim. The Friends of the Lanpher Memorial Library also dedicated a Little Free Library at the Gihon Valley Hall in North Hyde Park.
This year, we'll have Wishtree Day with HPES on Friday, April 29th. On the 29th, and after, we will have scraps of fabric available in the Library for folks to write down their wishes too, or you can submit your wish through the anonymous online form and we'll write them down and put them on the Wishtree.
For more information about Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate, check out the author's website...and check out the book from the Lanpher Library!
katherineapplegate.com/ lanpherlibrary.org
About the book: "Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .
Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighborhood.
You might say Red has seen it all.
Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experience as a wishtree is more important than ever."
On May 1, 2019, with the help of Hyde Park Elementary School Librarian, Robin Bryce, and the Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF), we organized a day where every student from HPES came to the Library, wrote down their wish, and with help of volunteers: Melanie and Everett Dickinson, Marie Olsen, Tammy Agnew, and Shelby Padulo, they tied their wishes into the branches of the Pin Oak tree in front of the Lanpher Library.
In 2019, there were a lot of wishes to win the lottery, become rich and famous, and also wishes for love, and caring, and for summer every day!
In May of 2020, because of Covid-19, our Wishtree Day, like so many other things, moved to an online format. We shared the anonymous online form with school classes, and the wider community. We wrote the wishes down on scraps of fabric and tied them to the tree on behalf of the wishers. The tone of the wishes changed. There were few lighthearted wishes, and more wishes for quarantine to be over, to play with my friends again, for the virus to end...
May 1, 2021 was a true day of community in Hyde Park. April 30th was Wishtree Day with Hyde Park Elem. School students walking to the Library to tie their wishes in the tree branches. May 1, was Green Up Day! Folks stopped by the Library to hang wishes in the tree, pick up their Green Up bags, and were welcomed by the unicorn, eagle, squid, and lion characters! The Lanpher Library dedicated our Spirit of Community Awards to Robin Aither and Kathy Geiersbach, and cut the ribbon on the Little Free Library created in memory of Chris Maxim. The Friends of the Lanpher Memorial Library also dedicated a Little Free Library at the Gihon Valley Hall in North Hyde Park.
This year, we'll have Wishtree Day with HPES on Friday, April 29th. On the 29th, and after, we will have scraps of fabric available in the Library for folks to write down their wishes too, or you can submit your wish through the anonymous online form and we'll write them down and put them on the Wishtree.
For more information about Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate, check out the author's website...and check out the book from the Lanpher Library!
katherineapplegate.com/ lanpherlibrary.org
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